Piligrim (Pilgrim of Passau, Pilegrinus, Peregrinus) (died 20 May 991) was

Bishop of Passau The Diocese of Passau is a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. He was educated at the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Niederaltaich Abbey Niederaltaich Abbey (Abtei or Kloster Niederaltaich) is a house of the Benedictine Order founded in 741, situated in the village of Niederalteich on the Danube in Bavaria. Foundation and early history After its foundation in 741 by Duke Odilo o ...

, and was made bishop in 971. To him are attributed some, if not all, of the '' Forgeries of Lorch''. These are a series of documents, especially papal bulls of

Pope Symmachus Pope Symmachus (died 19 July 514) was the bishop of Rome from 22 November 498 to his death. His tenure was marked by a serious schism over who was elected pope by a majority of the Roman clergy. Early life He was born on the Mediterranean islan ...

Pope Eugene II Pope Eugene II ( la, Eugenius II; died 27 August 827) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 6 June 824 to his death. A native of Rome, he was chosen by nobles to succeed Paschal I as pope despite the clergy and the people fa ...

, Pope Leo VII, and

Pope Agapetus II Pope Agapetus II (died 8 November 955) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 10 May 946 to his death. A nominee of the princeps of Rome, Alberic II of Spoleto, his pontificate occurred during the period known as the ''Saeculu ...

, fabricated to prove that Passau was a continuation of a former archdiocese of Lorch. By these he attempted to obtain from Benedict VI the elevation of Passau to an archdiocese, the re-erection of those dioceses in Pannonia and Mœsia which had been suffragans of Lorch, and the

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropol ...

for himself. There is extant an alleged Bull of Benedict VI granting Piligrim's demands; but this is also the work of Piligrim, possibly a document drawn up for the papal signature, which it never received. Piligrim converted numerous pagans in Hungary. He built many schools and churches, restored the

Rule of St. Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

in Niederaltaich, transferred the relics of

Maximilian of Tebessa Saint Maximilian of Tebessa, also known as Maximilian of Numidia, ( la, Maximilianus; AD 274–295) was a Christian saint and martyr, whose feast day is observed on 12 March. Born in AD 274, the son of Fabius Victor, an official connected to the R ...

from

Altötting Altötting (, Bavarian: ; ''Oidäding'') is a town in Bavaria, capital of the district Altötting of Germany. For 500 years it has been the scene of religious pilgrimages by Catholics in honor of Mary, including a visit by Pope John Paul II i ...

to Passau,Saint Maximilian of Celeia
/ref> and held synods (983–991) at (Lorch),

Mautern an der Donau Mautern an der Donau is a town in the district of Krems-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Geography It is situated on the southern bank of the Danube opposite Krems. History In former times ships cruising the Danube had to pay a toll ...

, and

Mistelbach ''For the town in Germany, see Mistelbach, Bavaria.'' Mistelbach an der Zaya (; Mistelbach on the (River) Zaya; Central Bavarian: ''Mistlboch'') is a town in the northeast of Austria in Lower Austria, one of Austria's nine federal states. It is ...

. In the ''

Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germani ...

'' he is lauded as a contemporary of the heroes of that epic.

References

*Dümmler, Piligrim von Passau und das Erzbisthum Lorch (Leipzig, 1854) *Berliner Sitzungsberichte (1898), 758-75 *Uhlirz, Die Urkundenfälschung zu Passau im zehnten Jahrhundert in Mittheilungen des Instituts für österreichische Geschichtsforschung, III (Vienna, 1882), 177-228; IDEM, ibid., supplementary vol., II (1888), 548 sq. *Heuwieser, Sind die Bischöfe von Passau Nachfolger der Bischöfe von Lorch? in Theologisch-praktische Monats-Schrift, XXI (Passau, 1910), 13-23, 85-90 *Mittermüller, War Bischof Piligrim von Passau ein Urkundenfälscher? in Der Katholik, XLVII (Mainz, 1867), 337-62.

Notes

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{{Authority control 991 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Passau Forgers Year of birth unknown 10th-century bishops in Bavaria